Archive for March 16th, 2010

You may have been intensely creative in generating solutions to a problem, and rigorous in your selection of the best one available. However, this solution may still not be worth implementing, as you may invest a lot of time and money in solving a problem that is not worthy of this effort.

Cost Benefit Analysis or CBA is a relatively* simple and widely used technique for deciding whether to make a change. As its name suggests, you simply add up the value of the benefits of a course of action, and subtract the costs associated with it.

Costs are either one-off, or may be ongoing. Benefits are most often received over time. We build this effect of time into our analysis by calculating a payback period. This is the time it takes for the benefits of a change to repay its costs. Many companies look for payback on projects over a specified period of time e.g. three years.

In its simple form, cost-benefit analysis is carried out using only financial costs and financial benefits. For example, a simple cost benefit ratio for a road scheme would measure the cost of building the road, and subtract this from the economic benefit of improving transport links. It would not measure either the cost of environmental damage or the benefit of quicker and easier travel to work.

A more sophisticated approach to building a cost benefit models is to try to put a financial value on intangible costs and benefits. This can be highly subjective – is, for example, a historic water meadow worth $25,000, or is it worth $500,000 because if its environmental importance? What is the value of stress-free travel to work in the morning?

These are all questions that people have to answer, and answers that people have to defend.

Example:

A sales director is deciding whether to implement a new computer-based contact management and sales processing system. His department has only a few computers, and his salespeople are not computer literate. He is aware that computerized sales forces are able to contact more customers and give a higher quality of reliability and service to those customers. They are more able to meet commitments, and can work more efficiently with fulfillment and delivery staff.

His financial cost/benefit analysis is shown below:

Costs:
New computer equipment:

10 network-ready PCs with supporting software @ $2,450 each

1 server @ $3,500

3 printers @ $1,200 each

Cabling & Installation @ $4,600

Sales Support Software @ $15,000

Training costs:

Computer introduction – 8 people @ $400 each

Keyboard skills – 8 people @ $400 each

Sales Support System – 12 people @ $700 each

Other costs:

Lost time: 40 man days @ $200 / day

Lost sales through disruption: estimate: $20,000

Lost sales through inefficiency during first months: estimate: $20,000

Total cost: $114,000

Benefits:

Tripling of mail shot capacity: estimate: $40,000 / year

Ability to sustain telesales campaigns: estimate: $20,000 / year

Improved efficiency and reliability of follow-up: estimate: $50,000 / year

Improved customer service and retention: estimate: $30,000 / year

Improved accuracy of customer information: estimate: $10,000 / year

More ability to manage sales effort: $30,000 / year

Total Benefit: $180,000/year

Payback time: $114,000 / $180,000 = 0.63 of a year = approx. 8 months

Inevitably the estimates of the benefit given by the new system are quite subjective. Despite this, the Sales Director is very likely to introduce it, given the short payback time.

Ministry of Education (MOE) would like to refer to an article by DR. S. NATHESAN, Muar, published in THE STAR dated 25 February 2010 on the issue of – “EDUCATION REFORM LONG OVERDUE”

The aim of the National Philosophy of Education is towards the holistic development of the physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual aspects of an individual. Hence, based on this philosophy, the national school curriculum was convened and implemented in government and private schools in Malaysia. The national curriculum functions as a vehicle to transmit the notion that the main purpose of education is to help develop the potential of an individual to its fullest in the said domains. Current classroom practices and pedagogies adapted from best practices applied in more developed countries become new emphases in the implementation of the national curriculum so as to ensure that the national school curriculum stays relevant to the current needs and future challenges.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will implement a new curriculum which will replace the KBSR. The new curriculum identifies content standards and learning standards which students should be able to achieve corresponding to the levels of education they are in – hence the name Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah. Designed as modular, the curriculum provides avenue for students to progress according to their capabilities in each subject they learn. The curriculum also put extra emphases the integration of creativity and innovation, patriotism, entrepreneurship and ICT into the teaching and learning process. Specific content and learning standards for creativity will be integrated into the teaching and learning process across all subject in the curriculum. This not only requires teachers to become creative in their classroom practice, but it also allows students to generate creative ideas and participate in creative activities in learning concepts of various disciplines of knowledge in the curriculum.

A suitable assessment model will be put in place to complement the pedagogical model and curricular emphases of the new national school curriculum. To ensure relevance and sustainability, the new curriculum hence promotes the implementation of continuous school based assessment. Various assessment models such as portfolio assessment, anecdotal records, project based learning and problem based learning to name a few, will be used to assess students development in their physical, emotional, spiritual and academic domains. These data will be used to plot remedial strategies for improvement to design enrichment activities to enhance their understanding of learnt concepts.

The Ministry Of Education acknowledges the importance to kick start the transformation of the school curriculum from an early stage. Hence, Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah Kebangsaan (KSPK) is implemented starting 2010 in all preschools operating in Malaysia. The operation of KSPK provides as smooth transition for students because Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah will be implemented in stages starting in 2011 with Year 1 of the primary school. This also provides as good platform for teachers and students to become familiar with the suggested pedagogical models, modular standard-based curriculum and continuous school-based assessment in the teaching and learning process.

The curriculum concept, pedagogical emphases and assessment models emphasized in the new curriculum promote the design of a learning system which holistic and complete. It provides a platform for learners to be responsible for their own learning through exploration and creatively use available resources to search for information. It enables teachers to encourage and motivate students to control ownership of knowledge, skills and values in the learning process by exploring and experimenting ideas. Collectively, these initiatives prepare the students for the needs and challenges of the future thus making learning meaningful for the students.

Ministry of Education (MOE) would like to refer to an article by DR. THEVA NITHY, published in THE STAR dated 21 February 2010 on the issue of – MEETING THE NEEDS OF NEW LEARNERS

The writer rightly asserts that evaluation of student learning must not only concern itself with knowledge and skill acquisition at specific time frames while students are in schools. The writer also voices the concern as to the capability of the Malaysian classroom’s ability to meet the demands and needs of new market place and global communities.

The Ministry of Education constantly monitors the changes taking place in the economic and societal spheres of activity both abroad and locally and review the suitability of the curriculum to produce citizens who are able to compete globally and inculcated with values to maintain and preserve the harmonious society within Malaysia. At the primary school the curriculum is designed to equip all students with language, numeracy, scientific and ICT skills to act as a springboard to master more specific and deeper knowledge in diverse scientific, technology, ICT and humanities subjects. These in turn enable students to successfully pursue their ambitions in various careers and jobs which have been created in the Malaysian marketplace and industry.

In developing the curriculum both at primary and secondary schools acquisition of knowledge and skills have been maintained. However various pedagogical approaches such as Mastery Learning, Contextual Learning and Constructivism have been introduced to teachers to enable the shift of the learning process from being exclusively teacher centered to become more learning process from being exclusively teacher centered to become more learner centred.

These initiatives have been introduced to engage students more actively in then learning process and emplace responsibility in successful learning upon the student. However it must be admitted that some of our students have not been successful in meeting the learning outcomes specified in the curriculum.

Based upon feedback obtained, the Ministry has initiated several new programmes such as the national pre school education and child care, Literacy and Numeracy (LINUS) and Standards Based Curriculum in both primary and secondary schools to produce the future citizens who have the knowledge, skills and courage to transform Malaysia into a developed nation by 2020. The ability to innovate and be creative is inbuilt in then above mentioned programmes so that lessons will provide for activities and approaches that will stimulate students to understand, think critically and be creative in applying their knowledge and skills.